A Guitar And Gear Support Forum

andrewsrea wrote: ↑Sun Nov 12, 2023 11:44 am Inconsistent fret wear will result in intonation problems and sometimes fret buzz. Some players never venture past cowboy chords and some never venture past the 12th fret. If you are one of those, then saddle adjustments and attention to the truss rod can take care of intonation and buzz in the areas you frequent, leaving the ones you do not out of tune.

There is lots of 'meat' on those frets and they can be leveled and crowned at least one time, maybe two depending on how you prefer feeling the fretboard, before needing to be replaced. Minimum tools required for this are: an 18" straight edge, a fretboard straight edge (has the notches for the frets), a 6" fret level file, a dressing file (has rounded and smooth edges, so as not to cut into your fingerboard), a black sharpie, masking tape, a razor or Exacto knife for trimming the tape, fret erasers or 000 steel wool, a cotton cloth and a little Jewler's rouge or rubbing compound, or toothpaste (for polishing the frets). A crowning file is very useful.

I remove the strings, the nut, loosen the truss rod until the neck is flat with the fretboard straight edge. Mask off the fretboard in between the frets and anywhere that you could accidentally slip and mar the finish. Mark the tops of the frets with the Sharpie marker. Level file until the last little bit of marker is seen on the lowest frets, being deliberate on moving around and leveling evenly. To crown with a dressing file, with the rounded edge on the fretboard, file the fret starting at a 45-degree angle to the top of the fret and roll it to a shallower angle. Like a mirror opposite, do the same for the other side of the fret. I like to go headstock side first, then bridge side of the fret. File off the burrs of the fret ends with the dressing file, but don't get too aggressive as you do not want your strings falling off due to lack of fret space. After you've crowned all frets, use the fret erasers or steel wool in the same fashion as the crowing process (you are polishing at this point. Rub the Jeweler's rouge, rubbing compound or toothpaste on a piece of cotton cloth and rub into the frets. Wipe dry with a clean cotton cloth.

Tighten the truss a little, put the nut back on with a little smear of white glue, re-string and tune. Adjust the truss to have 0.5mm to 1mm space at the 7th fret, using the straight edge and making sure you tune as you adjust the truss. If the truss is very tight, then detune - adjust and retune. Set the action then intonation (bridge saddles: closest to the headstock = sharp and farter = flat). Enjoy!

tonebender wrote: ↑Sun Nov 12, 2023 1:36 pm I have never had a guitar re-fretted but I have re-crowned the frets on a few through the years. The tools to accomplish a re-crown job are not too expensive. If you PM me your address I will send you one for Christmas. Do you get Amazon deliveries?

BatUtilityBelt wrote: ↑Mon Nov 13, 2023 4:11 pm I think @andrewsrea covered it really well. I'd add if you can hear it, it's a problem, otherwise it's fine. But then some types of music don't mind intonation issues or a little fret buzz (not a lot). It just depends on what you do with that guitar. But if it frets out or other bad effects that impact your experience, I'd fix those.